'Passive smoking almost killed me - twice'

By SARAH GRAHAM, Mail online

Last updated at 08:39 23 February 2006

Jane Dorey has more reason than most to celebrate the Government's historic decision to ban smoking in public places. For years she has had to turn down offers of going to pubs and clubs with friends because she inevitably ended up leaving when people started to light up.

"I had to stand outside whenever I went out to a pub – it was as if I was the odd one out," she recalls.

But Jane isn't one of those non-smoking preachers who get on their high horse at the first sight of a packet of B&H. Passive smoking nearly killed her – twice.

It's difficult to believe that sharing a room with a smoker can increase your chances of developing cancer, but according to Cancer Research UK, the likelihood of getting some forms of the disease rises by between 20 to 30 per cent.

Her doctor said the likely cause of the cancer was passive smoking.

Jane, 40, is the first to admit she was a bit of a party girl in her twenties and enjoyed going to pubs and clubs. Even though she never smoked, other people lighting up never bothered her, she says. In fact, for six years she lived with a boyfriend who smoked.

When, during that time, she began to experience pain and discomfort around her womb area, she visited a doctor straight away and expected to be told it was nothing serious. However, she was shocked to learn she developed cervical cancer and that it was at an advanced stage.

She was rushed into hospital almost immediately and underwent emergency surgery to remove part of her cervix.

The biggest shock she was to receive though was the news that the most likely cause of the cancer was passive smoking. She said her GP told her he noticed her condition improved significantly during the run-up to her treatment when she avoided pubs and smokers.

At this time she asked her partner to give up his habit and, when he refused, she promptly left him.

Regular health check-ups followed to make sure the cancer had not returned and Jane, by then in her early 30s and working as a physiotherapist, felt ready to move on with her life once again. She spent more time indulging in her favourite pastime – sailing – and considerably less time in smoky pubs.

'I was x-rayed again and told I had lung cancer.'

During this time she met Andrew, a fellow sailing enthusiast and the pair began a relationship. After a few years together, they set a wedding date for November 2000. She also started her own company – Bathrobics – specialising in holistic and natural spa therapies.

Five years after her cervical cancer battle, however, she developed a persistent cough, which she found strange because she was such a fit and sporty person. She saw her doctor and was x-rayed, but was told the results failed to show anything abnormal. Nine months later, in August 2000, her cough hadn't gone so she went back to her GP.

"I was x-rayed again and told I had lung cancer. It turned out that it was a result of the initial cancer.

"Having the disease once was bad enough but to have it return a few years later was a total shock. I am not ashamed to admit I was frightened I would die.

"I was diagnosed on the Sunday evening and by the following Wednesday I knew how bad the situation was. The diagnosis was bleak – I was told I'd need a third of my lung removed. Even then the chances of survival were slim because secondary cancer is almost inevitably fatal.

"I woke up on the Thursday morning and said to Andrew 'Let’s get married straight away'.

"Even though we’d set a date and had most of the plans in place by that stage, with the diagnosis I knew that by November I'd be on my death bed, bald and unwell and I couldn't face that. I knew we would either have to postpone the wedding with the risk that I might not even make it or we had to do it there and then," she says.

Despite Jane's illness, her wedding was a very happy day.

By the following Saturday, in front of a small group of close family and friends – "Twenty people as opposed to the 200 we planned to have," she recalls – at a register office in Fulham, west London, Jane and Andrew married.

Despite the fact that Jane was desperately ill and waiting to undergo major surgery on her lung, it was a very happy day.

"Andrew and I managed to keep it together during the service, everyone else was tearful. It was very emotional," she says.

After her operation, she underwent months of gruelling chemotherapy but also began exploring alternative methods of "medicine" such as vitamin supplements, and a complete diet change. She stunned her doctors with her recovery and a year later they told her she was in remission, the cancer had gone for the time being. That was five years ago.

She now feels what she calls her "guerrilla warfare" approach to healing herself with the help complementary treatments saved her life and continues to keep her cancer-free. She eats only organic food and has completely cut out dairy and sugar from her diet. She still takes vitamin supplements and keeps fit and is in the process of writing a book about her battle.

"When you are diagnosed with cancer, you need to understand your disease totally and on a cellular level. You have to understand exactly what is going on in your body and it’s very complex," she says.

'The smoking ban is a victory for all us non-smokers.'

The only thing preventing her leading an altogether normal existence has been her inability to go into pubs and restaurants without the fear of someone sparking up a cigarette nearby.

She says: "Whenever I'm invited out to the pub I have to say no. My close friends realise it's better to have dinner parties at home.

"I’m delighted with the smoking ban, it's fantastic. Next summer I'll be going out and celebrating the fact that I can live normally. It's a victory for all of us non-smokers.

"Why should we have to suffer other people trying to destroy our health?"

For more information on Jane’s battle and complementary methods, visit www.bathrobics.com